Safe and Sound
by SarahHolmes
Summary: Vignettes of Cath and Levi's life living together on Levi's ranch after Cath graduates.
1. Chapter 1

[Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to the amazing Rainbow Rowell.]

"So I was thinking about it, and…"

Levi paused and slowly ran his fingers up and down the glass of milk. He did this absentmindedly sometimes, almost as if it was a tic or something. Cath was used to it by now, and she figured he was pretty nervous tonight. He obviously had something on his mind; he had nearly missed her plate completely when he was dishing the mashed potatoes out.

"Yes?" she said, trying her best to be encouraging. Encouragement. It was something she was trying to work on. Even Levi needed support sometimes.

"Well, I just think it can get lonely here sometimes," he said, running his fingers up and down the glass faster now. "You know, when you're at work and I'm here alone."

"Okay…" Cath said, putting down her fork and shifting around in her chair.

"And, I was wondering if you wanted to get a cat," Levi said, not quite meeting her eyes.

For Cath, it was one of those bizarre moments when everything feels strangely surreal, like the person you're talking to just said that they don't want to be roommates with you. Or your Baz fanfic is plagiarism. Cath had experienced all too many of these moments over the past few years.

"Um… a cat?" she said.

"Yeah. Of course, if you think it's a dumb idea, we don't have to. But, I just thought that it could be good for us," Levi continued, obviously with some effort. "A good first step," he added quietly but firmly.

"First step to what?" Cath said. She was genuinely stumped on what he was talking about.

"You know, our life together," Levi said. "Here in Arnold."

"I… I don't know what to say, Levi. Do you really think I can take care of a cat?" she said.

"Actually, I think you'd be a great cat mom. You're good with caring for others," Levi said.

"No I'm not," she said.

"Cather, come on. Yes you are. You took care of your dad all those years," Levi said. "And you take care of me."

"Levi, you _hardly_ need taking care of," Cath said. "You're a grown man."

"Not when I'm with you."

She felt a blush creep up her face. Levi reached over and felt her cheek. He liked doing this, feeling her warmth. She was still getting used to it even though they'd been together three and a half years now.

"Let me think about it, okay?" Cath said, bringing her hand up to his and placing it on top.

"Okay, take your time," Levi said, smiling. "Now tell me the travails of daily life in the public library."

"Cath! Where are you?"

It was Victoria. She was doing the whisper-shout that all experienced librarians knew how to do so well.

"Shit," Cath said from her place burrowed in the stacks, hurriedly closing the cover to the book, _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting and Owning a Cat_, and putting back on the shelf. The book was dog-eared and semi-water damaged, and torn in places where Cath suspected a dog (or a cat?) had bitten it.

"Coming, Victoria!" Cath shouted. She could see patrons looking up from their newspapers and computer workstations. Cath winced. She was still getting used to using a librarian voice and sometimes didn't realize her own strength. She clapped her hands over her mouth as if she could take it back.

She rounded the corner and walked over to Victoria, who was frowning at her from the central circulation desk. As she approached the desk Cath tried to figure out what Victoria would want right now when Cath had scheduled time to be in the stacks. She always felt like Victoria had it out for her and was probably right about it; Victoria scolded her constantly, taking issue with everything Cath did and scaring the hell out of her in her first two weeks. It hadn't let up since.

"Yes, Victoria?" she said when she got to the desk. She pushed her glasses up farther on her nose, realizing that they had nearly fallen off. _Damn, got to get those fixed ASAP_, she thought.

"What were you doing over there?"

"Um, just doing some research for my craft project," Cath said, thinking quickly. The pets section was near the art section of the nonfiction stacks.

"Well, any ideas?" Victoria asked.

"I'm thinking of something with paper snowflakes or ornaments," Cath replied.

"Hmm…okay, well stay on it. Anyway, I need you to retrieve some items for me, all right? Here's the list," the older librarian said, handing Cath a printout. Cath's heart instantly sank; it was a list of CD titles.

"Sure, Victoria," Cath said, forcing herself to smile. She took a basket and the list over to the music section and started rummaging through the cases.

_Fuckin' A_, she thought, feeling miserable. The CDs were the worst. Perpetually out of order thanks to the little kids who loved to run into the library after storytime and make chaos with the music each day, the CD section was a mess.

Digging through the shelves, Cath felt her mind wander.

A cat? Was Levi serious?

Cath had never had a cat before. She had half-jokingly tried to get her father to adopt a dog a few times to keep him company when she and Wren were at college, but it had never stuck. Cath wasn't sure she'd be any good at keeping a pet. Perhaps it was that nagging feeling that would never go away; even now that she was in her twenties she was convinced she could never handle any real responsibility.

But that was ridiculous. She was a children's librarian, for God's sake. She had to brave dozens of judgmental little faces each morning and make them smile. Maybe she could do the same thing with a cat? This was one of those times when she wished she could turn to Wren and ask for her advice…

At lunch, Cath took out her cell phone from her backpack and texted Wren. _Levi wants to get a cat…what do you think?_

A few minutes later, her phone vibrated. It was Wren.

_Sounds like an awesome idea, Cath! Get a black one like Shadow!_

_I dunno, do you really think I would be a good cat mom?_

_Cath, come on. You've given S + B cats in fics before. Shadow, duh?_

_Yeah, but…_

_Do it! Levi wants to share this with you. Gotta run! Let me know what happens!_

Cath frowned and sat back in her chair. She looked around her. Nobody was up in the offices with her right now. She woke up her computer and opened Chrome. After signing into her Fanfixx account, she scrolled through her pages of published works until she found the one she was looking for.

"_Not Another Sappy Pet Parent Fic" by Magicath, c. 2010_

She clicked on it and skimmed the story until she got to the part she was looking for.

"_That one!" Simon cried, pointing to the kennel with a black cat. _

"_Dulce?" Baz said skeptically, looking at the tag on the cage. _

"_We'll rename him, of course," Simon said. "Can we see him?" he asked the volunteer from the shelter. _

"_I don't know about this, Simon…" Baz said. He was hoping Simon wasn't remembering the first time they met, when he had been bouncing around some girl's cat. _

"_Come on, he'll liven our place up," Simon said. He looked so happy, Baz couldn't help but melt. And all his reasoning behind not getting a pet—that he might be tempted to drink its blood, that they couldn't afford one, that he had never taken care of anything before—all faded away. This was right. _

"_We'll call him Shadow," Baz said, walking closer. _

That night, Cath found Levi in the kitchen, cooking up some mac and cheese at the stove.

"Mmm…Mac and Cheese Mondays," she said, putting her arm around his shoulder and leaning into his arm.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Levi said, turning to face her. "How was your day?"

"Just another Monday. Happy to be back with you," she said, burrowed into his chest.

"And I with you," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Levi…" Cath said, pulling back.

"Yes?" Levi said, tucking a loose hair behind her hair.

"Let's get a cat."

He smiled. All of him, not just his mouth. His throat, his neck, his eyebrows…all of the parts she loved.

"Hey," she said, leaning into him again. "I really like you," she whispered.

The mac and cheese burned, and they had to order pizza.

When Levi and Cath got to the shelter, Levi was immediately drawn to a quiet black cat in the furthest corner. The cat was surrounded by empty kennels.

_Oh, geez. _Cath thought. Levi looked like a little kid. Or like a big kid picking out a little kid companion.

"Cath, what about this one?" he shouted over to her from across the room.

"Coming," she said, following him.

"Have I read you my Simon-Baz fic about the cat?" she asked him.

Levi looked puzzled. Happy, but puzzled.

"Uh, no. What's it about?"

"Nevermind," Cath said, rolling her eyes. She bent down next to Levi. "Wow, he is super cute."

"She. _Tiger_. Who names a black cat 'Tiger'?" Levi said. "Can we see her?" he asked the volunteer running the adoption wing.

"Sure," she said, opening the kennel and picking Tiger up.

"Can I touch her?" Levi said.

"Go right ahead," the volunteer said.

Levi petted the cat gently down the bridge of its nose. It closed its eyes.

In spite of herself, Cath felt her heart melt. When she looked at Levi as he was now, smiling silly and blissfully happy, she felt like crying. Did she deserve this? Would it all end any minute now?

He somehow coaxed the volunteer into letting him hold Tiger.

"Come here, Cather. She won't bite," Levi said, still looking down at the cat. Cath stepped over carefully, afraid that if she did something wrong this whole scene would melt away.

"She's… adorable," Cath said.

"What do you think, huh, Sweetheart?" Levi asked.

"I think… I think… we should call her 'Cheetah.'"

Levi looked over at her and grinned.

"Cheetah it is," he said.

Later, when they were in bed, Cath tossed and turned. She leaned over to her nightstand and checked her texts. There was one from Wren in response to the picture the shelter volunteer had taken of Levi and Cath standing with Cheetah.

_You're a family now! :) xo_

Seeing the message made Cath smile. She put the phone back and turned on her back.

"Hey, you all right?" Levi whispered, leaning on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," she said, rolling across the bed and into his arms.

Just then they heard a jingle in the room coming closer to them. It was Cheetah. All of a sudden the jingling stopped until they heard a thump on the bed and a small body settling in by their legs.

"What did Wren say?" Levi said.

"That we're a family now," she replied.

"We are. And you know what, Cath?" Levi said.

"What?" she whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said as he muzzled into her hair.


	2. Chapter 2

[Preface: I don't own these characters. They belong to the lovely, amazing Rainbow Rowell.]

"So how did you two meet?"

Cath was always uncomfortable with this question, especially when it was being asked by new people. So far Cath had kept her relationship with Levi under the hat at work. She wasn't counting on anyone finding out about it, but Becky, the only other young librarian working at the library, had figured it out when Levi had made a surprise visit to the library earlier in the day.

They were in the librarian offices at lunch, and Becky had her chair turned towards Cath's.

"We met when we were in college," Cath said.

"Oh yeah? Where'd you go again?" Becky asked as she took a sticky peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of a plastic sandwich bag. "Ugh, now I have jelly all over my hands. Do you have a napkin or something?"

Cath handed her a spare as she said "U of N."

"Cool. Was he in your classes?" Becky continued.

Cath didn't feel like explaining her relationship with Levi to anyone. Even after all this time, she still felt inadequate, as if she didn't deserve Levi. These were the thoughts that kept her up at night while Levi was snoring and talking in his sleep beside her. She would lie on her back, Cheetah snuggled between them, and wonder about if any of this was real.

"No. He knew my freshman-year roommate. They were… friends from their hometown. He was in a different major, range management," Cath said.

"So what does he do now?" Becky asked.

"He works on a ranch," Cath said.

"And do you live together?"

"Yes."

"That's cool. We should double date, if you're up to it," Becky said amicably.

"Okay. I didn't realize you have a boyfriend," Cath replied.

"I don't. I have a girlfriend," Becky replied.

"Oh, okay," Cath said slowly. "What's her name?"

"Margot. I'm surprised you haven't met her already. She stops by sometimes when she's on break. She works at the knitting shop down the street," Becky said, taking a sip from her Vitamin Water.

The past month had been a blur for Cath. Trying to memorize the new names and faces of dozens of kids (and more importantly, their parents) on top of all the regular patrons was taxing. She was coming home each night exhausted.

"What does she look like?" Cath asked.

She tried hard to pay attention as Becky described her girlfriend, but her mind wandered back to earlier in the day when Levi had dropped in…

"Hey, Sweetheart," he said as she stood at the circulation desk. She had just gotten back from story hour with the toddlers and was still a little flustered.

"Uh… um… hi, Levi," she said, her face turning beet red.

Levi grinned, relishing her embarrassment.

"So what looks good? Have you picked anything out for tonight yet?" he asked.

"What?"

"I thought you said you would get us some new books. More Brontës, perhaps? Or maybe more of Ms. Austen?" he said.

"I'll look into it," she mumbled. Then, quickly looking around and seeing nobody, she pulled him close to her. "I gotta get back to work. Thank for stopping by, babe," she whispered in his ear. She kissed him quickly on the earlobe and pulled back.

"_Ahem._"

It was Victoria. She had been standing behind Cath the whole time.

"Sure. See you later, Sweetheart. I can't wait to see what you pick," Levi said, winking. He turned around and walked back out the door.

"I'm sorry…" Cath stammered to Victoria.

"Just help me with these DVDs," Victoria said, not looking at her.

_We've got the power…_

_The power…_

_To sorcerer you…_

_With LOVE! (Love! Love!)_

Cath jumped when she heard the tap on her window. She had been rocking out in her car to Simon and the Snowers and hadn't seen Levi approach the car. Slightly bewildered, she rolled down the window.

"I just keep embarrassing you today, don't I?" Levi asked, grinning.

"I think my face is all burned off," Cath said, returning the smile.

"Mind if I drive?" he asked. "Let's go in the truck."

"Uh, sure," Cath said, getting out of the car and walking over to Levi's truck.

Levi slid into the driving seat and put the car in reverse.

"Where are we going?" Cath asked.

"We are going to get a Christmas tree," Levi said.

"Whoa, whoa, a Christmas tree? Thanksgiving was last week!"

"Yes, Cath, but you know how I feel about Christmas," he said, and Cath knew exactly what he meant. Levi was a bundle of happy overload when it came to Christmas. He referred to himself as "Mr. Christmas," and decked out his house in Christmas lights. He had put the lights up last week at five o'clock on Sunday morning, and Cath was still adjusting to sleeping with the neon glow beaming through the windows at night.

"Okay," Cath said, feeling excited. Levi's passion for the Christmas season was infectious, as she had learned over the years.

"How's your fic going?" Levi asked as they pulled onto the main road.

"Actually, it's going really well so far. Wren gave it a glance and said it's one of my best one-offs in a while," Cath said.

"Are you going to read it to me?"

"Of course. Just let me get a few more pages done on it," Cath replied.

As they drove to the mall, Cath and Levi sang along to Christmas songs on the radio. "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" was Levi's personal favorite while "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" was Cath's. You might not know it from looking at him, but Levi was actually a great singer. He belted out the songs unabashedly, which made Cath more comfortable with following his lead. He cranked up "All I Want for Christmas is You" when it came on, telling her that that was his anthem the winter before they started dating. Cath rolled her eyes and sank down in her seat.

When they got to the store, they immediately hit the Christmas section. Levi's eyes grew and twinkled. He took Cath's hand in his own and ran with her over to the ornaments.

"Whoa! Look at this one! And these—and these!" he said, pointing and picking things up. Cath squeezed his hand and then said, "I'm going to go look around for someone to help us."

As she walked away, she had to bite her lip from smiling so much. You'd think that after four years with Levi she'd be worn down from his sunny personality, but he just boosted her up. There was a part of her that was sad that she was away from her family. Wren and her boyfriend lived in Omaha; they had agreed it was better to have one of them be near Dad and help him out when things got out of control. They had just been home to Omaha last week for Thanksgiving. Still, Cath sometimes caught herself feeling lonely without her sister. Fortunately, Reagan lived nearby and came over a couple times a month.

"Excuse me, sir. Can you help us with getting a tree?" Cath asked a tall, skinny guy stocking the shelves.

"Sure, ma'am."

The man, _Rick_ as his nametag said, led her over to the Christmas tree display. Cath hollered for Levi, and he met up with her, a small bag in his hand.

"What's in there?" she asked him.

"You'll find out soon enough," Levi said, winking at her.

Cath narrowed her eyes in suspicion but paid attention to what Rick was saying. They had decided on the way over to the mall that they had to get a fake tree given the issues with cats and live trees.

After they picked out a tree, Cath helped Levi get it in the truck bed. He walked over to the passenger-side door and opened it for her. With his help, she climbed in. She sank into the lull of Levi's recounting of his day's work and smiled.

"I think the yellow banded ones go on the lowest level," Cath said, kneeling and digging around the box. She started to pull out all the branches with the yellow rubber bands on them and piled them together.

"Levi! Stop you goofball!" she said, chuckling at the sensation of the branch Levi was using to tickle her neck. He laughed and rubbed his hands up and down her back, leaning over to kiss the skin below her ear.

"So it's the yellow ones we're looking for first?" he said as he scooted up next to her.

"Right," she said.

It took them the better part of an hour to figure the tree out, including many missteps of putting the wrong colors on the wrong rows. The branches seemed endless, but Levi had insisted on the tallest tree there. ("Do we even have room for it?" she had asked him in the store. "Duh, I measured before we left, Cather," he said.) Now Cath snuggled into the couch, a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and her laptop next to her. She opened up the doc with the Simon-Baz fic she was working on and started to write.

Lost in the world of her fic, Cath at first did not notice the choral music in the background. The hot chocolate had run out of a while ago, but she absentmindedly reached for it anyway. Instead of grasping a mug, she felt a hand, Levi's hand. He pushed her over gently, and she swung her legs up so they were resting on his lap.

"You know, we don't have any ornaments," he said to her.

"Huh?" she said, not really paying attention.

"I said we don't have any ornaments."

Cath looked over at Levi, slowly coming back into the real world. "Oh yeah, I know. We can order some online, if you'd like," she said. "Let me pull up Target's website."

"I think this would be a good start," he said, pulling something out from next to him. "Here."

He handed her an ornament, and she felt her heart nearly break.

It was a candy cane striped heart surrounding a picture insert. The picture was of the two of them at Wren's wedding. He had been Jandro's best man, and she had been Wren's maid of honor. The picture showed Cath and Levi seated together at the family's table, their heads touching, both looking deliriously happy. Just like they were now.

"Oh, Levi. It's beautiful," she said, reaching over to squeeze his knee.

"You're beautiful," he murmured, and pulled her into his arms. "And I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too," she said, and in the heat of the moment, she dropped the ornament—gently—on the ground. He played with her hair and she traced the lines in his palm.

"Maybe we can look at ornaments later," she whispered and let herself ease into the present. Here, with Levi. Here, happy and in love.


End file.
